Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-312

Opinion No. 312 l\lothel'S' Pension-Children-Residence -Hospitalization, Effect of. HELD: An a])plicant for :\loth('r8' Pension is entitled to an allowllnce for a child who is confined in lin Ortho- pedic Hospital in another county. August 16. Hl33. You reqnest the opinion of this of- fice on the following matter: "In an a])plica tion for a :\fother':o; Pension, now before the board. it is disclosed that one of the children for whom relief is sought is a patient at the St. Vincent's Orthopedic Hospital in Billings, Montana. "According to the strict interpreta' tion of number 1 of Ohapter 1RR of the 1933 Session Laws. the child must be living with the mother. On page 325 of volume 12 of the AttorneY Gen· erals Opinions, the Attorney dl'll~ral there said that where a child was liv- ing away from its mother in another state, that no pension should he al- lowed." The parent has the right to determine the child's residence (Section 5850), and no douht the mother \Voula claim its legal residence \VIIS Cascade County. The residence of an infant is tha t ;,f the parent. (29 Oyc. 1584.) Indigent per- sons may be remO\'ed to the counh' where they reside. (Section 4;532) HR.€_ side" as here used would no doubt be held to mean legal residence. If the mother is unable to maintain the chilrl at Billings. the officials of Yellowstone County may have it returned to Oas- cade, where the mother would ha "e the right to the statutory allowance. Under such circumstances we cannot see what difference it would make to Cascade County one way or the other. that county heing liable for its mainte- nance in either case. The allowance to the mother, under the circumstances given, we belieYe to be within the law.